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Saturday, April 2, 2011

Pon Vilantha Kalathur Part 1

Date of Visit : Mar 12, 2011

Ponvilaintha Kalathur (Meaning: Place where Gold was harvested...the golden grains!) is a beautiful village 10kms from Chengaatlpattu in Tamilnadu.

I have visited this place a couple of times earlier.. But this one was special. Mr Raman, my wife's uncle, used to invite me every year to witness the Dhavanothsavam at Sri Lakshmi Narasimha Swamy temple .I could finally make it to this beautiful temple during the celebration this year.

Utsavam is an annual function celebrated in any Vaishnavite temple. Dhavanotsavam is one where the God is fully decorated with lots of Dhavanam an aromatic herb. The divine smelling herb added with the electric ambiance is something one will remember for life.. This post is an endeavor to bring a fraction of its beauty to share with all..!

Before venturing further into the picture tour, I need to thank Mr Raman who played a perfect host in spite of his active involvement in the function. It is his never-get-irritated attitude lets you stay at home in his presence.! Couldn't catch him on my camera...!

I wish I visited the previous evening when there was a procession of the deity on the streets followed by dance..! Will have to wait a year for it now..!

An interesting story extracted from another post on the internet

"Several idols at Thiru Kadal Mallai Divya Desams (there were more than the one temple that we are seeing today at Mamallapuram) were on the verge of being washed away by the floods. Fearing the loss of the Narasimha idol, it is believed that utsava deity was taken away to a safer place from Thiru Kadal Mallai.

Garuda was given the task of identifying the place where the Lakshmi Narasimha Utsava deity was to be installed. It is said that almost 900 years ago, Garuda came above this temple and circled the vimanam thrice.

Taking this as the endorsement by Garuda as the right place to install, it is said that the Lakshmi Narasimha utsava deity was installed here at Pon Vilaintha Kalathur (PV Kalathur) and the temple whose moolavar deity is Vaikunta Vaasa Perumal actually came to be called by the name of the Utsava deity itself."

While this is not a Divya Desam, the fact that the Utsava deity relating to Thiru Kadal Mallai Divya Desam was installed here makes this a significant and historic temple.